Flag mounting means



March 29, 1966 H. M. OLSON 3,242,901

FLAG MOUNTING MEANS Filed Nov. 13, 1964 Harry M. Olson [NV EN TOR.

United States Patent FLAG MOUNTING MEANS Harry M. Olson, 311 Main Ave., Clear Lake, Iowa Filed Nov. 13, 1964, Ser. No. 410,889 Claims. (Cl. 116-173) With reference to my prior'patent it will be seen that it-cornprises a sectional knockdown flagstalf. The flag has a heavy canvas or an equivalent hem slidingly sleeved 7 over the flagstaff. -A tape is" secured at one end portion to the .upperend of the hem ina manner to provide selectively'usable long and short free end portions, the latter having terminal attaching and suspending means and requiririg the upper end ofthe flagstaif to be specially construct'ed to permit attachment of the long and short portions ofthe tape. T0 accomplishthe raising and lowering steps" the'tape has to be inconveniently reversed and handled inl a'iiowobjectionable manner.

-I-he obje ct of the present invention is to structurally and functionally improve upon Patent 2,775,221. To the ends desired, the tape means is dispensed with. The upper knob-equipped end is simplified. The hem is provided with af'simple quick; attachable and detachable f asten en,

I More par'ticularlyfthe upper section of the fiagstaif is constructed'to p'err'nit'the hems'. fastener to be readily applied andrre'move'd' in a manner to display the flag at fullsta'ffpr hal'f s't'aff, in keeping with the ceremony or other occasion athand.

s In carrying out the concept two holes are bored in the hollowstatf,"'one just below the top and the other one about -36"'inches therebelow. These holes constitute simple keepers; The fastening means on the hem comprises a heavy duty snap-fastener whose resilient convexly 'camber'ed'prongs can be plugged into the upper keeper hole or lower keeper hole, as the case may be.

' Then, too, novelty is predicated on using a hollow steel rivet as the snap-fastener. The headed shank pierces the component parts of a loop type pull tab and secures the later in place. Washers are used to assemble and reinforce the coactingparts,

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a view showing the upper section of the sectional fiagstaff with a portion of the joint broken away, with the flag fragmentarily shown and with the improved flag adjusting and retaining means which is carried by the upper portion of the flags hem;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary view in elevation showing the upper flagstaff section with the flag removed;

FIGURE 3 is a view in perspective on an enlarged scale and fragmentarily drawn and emphasizing the pull tab and fastener means carried by the upper part of the hem;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged view primarily in section and taken on the plane of the vertical section line 44 of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 is an exploded perspective view showing a fragmentary portion of the fiagstaif, the upper keeper hole and fastener and a portion of the doubled hem; and

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary View presented in perspective and showing a modified twin loop pull tab.

"ice

Directing attention to FIGURES l to 5, inclusive, it will be seen that the flagstaff (FIG. 1) is denoted by the numeral 8 and comprises an upper tubular metal (or equivalent) section 10 provided at its upper end with a fixed ball-like ornament or knob 12. The lower end is swedged and reduced to provide a suitable connector 14 fitting frictionally and telescopingly into the upper socketlike end portion of the lower tube or section 16. A similar type joint is provided in my prior Patent 2,775 ,221 and is therefore not stressed here. The ornamental head 12 instead of being mounted in the manner shown in the prior patent can be and preferably is fixedly mounted and serves merely as an ornament. The upper staff tube or section 10 is novel in that it is provided with vertically spaced fastening means for the canvas or equivalent hem 18 carried by the lefthand end portion of the flag 20. The flag and hem correspond, generally speaking, to the adaptation disclosed in prior Patent 2,775,221 in that the hem is sleeved slidingly and adjustably on the staff section 10.

In carrying out the improvement vertically spaced keeper means of the type shown in FIG. 2 is employed. More specifically a first keeper hole 22 is bored in the tube a short distance below the knob-equipped upper end 24. At approximately 36 inches below a second keeper hole 26 is bored in the tube. These keeper holes are individually and selectively used in the manner illustrated in FIG. 1 and in order to raise and lower the hem 18 and to accordingly provide the full-staff and half-staff (not shown) positions of the flag. The hem is provided with lengthwise flaps 18A and the coacting portion of the flag is fitted and stitched therebetween.

It will be noted that there is but a single fastening means provided on the hem, this means being located at the upper end portion 28 which is folded or doubled upon itself as at 30 (FIG. 4) and bent inwardly and downwardly and stitched in place in any suitable manner. The inturned fold is denoted at 32 in FIG. 4.

The fastening means, stated broadly, comprises a maletype snap-fastener. More particularly it comprises a hollow steel or an equivalent hollow rivet 34 having a flanged or peened outer end 36, a hollow shank 38 (FIG. 4) said shank terminating at its inner end in longitudinally bowed FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 in particular it will be noted (FIG. 4)

that a pull-tab 42 is provided. This assists in withdrawing or extracting the prongs from the keeper hole in a self evident manner. The tab preferably comprises a strip of canvas which is bent upon itself between its ends 44 to provide a finger loop 46. The overlapping portions are apertured and the shank of the rivet passes through the apertures. The shank may be said to pierce the overlapped portions of the tab. For rigidity and security an outer washer 48 is provided and surrounds the flanged end of the shank and abuts the coacting tab portion. A companion inner washer 50 is also provided and this surrounds the shank and is clampingly held against the fold 32 thus securing the plurality of plies of canvas firmly together. It follows that the fastening means 34 provides a rigidified snap fastener which is readily applicable and removable and which is preferably provided with at least a single finger loop 46.

It is within the purview of the invention to employ a twin or double loop tab of the type denoted at 52 in FIG. 6. Here the loop ends 54 and 56 are arranged for convenient use. The double ply median portion 58 is secured to the hem 60 by way of a snap-fastener (like the one shown in FIG. 4) and denoted generally at 62. The prongs (not detailed) enter a keeper hole provided therefor in the staff tube 64. It follows that either single loop or double loop pull tabs 42 and 52 respectively may be employed whichever is found to be the most desirable.

It will be evident that when the flag is in the up position shown in FIG. 1 the snap fastener 34 is plugged into the keeper hole 22 keeping the flag at its full-mast position. When the half-mast position is desired, the snap fastener is released and engaged with the keeper hole 26, thus lowering the flag.

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In combination, a flagstaff adapted when in use to assume a vertical flag supporting and displaying position, a flag having an open-ended hem at one end slidingly sleeved over an upper flag attaching portion of a flagstaff, full-mast keeper means embodied in the upper end of said flag-attaching portion of said flagstaff, half-mast keeper means also embodied in said upper flag attaching portion but spaced downwardly a predetermined distance below the locale of said full-mast keeper means, and fastener means carried by said hem and selectively and separably connectable at will, with either keeper means contingent on displaying the flagat full-staff or half-staff, as the case may be, said fastener means comprising a single fastener operatively connected with the upper end portion of said hem, said fastener being readily accessible and manually attachable to and detachable from the respective keeper means.

2. The structure according to claim 1, and wherein said fastener means comprises a heavy-duty snap fastener provided at an outer accessible end with easily grippable pull tab having at least one fingergripping loop.

3. In combination, a flagstaif adapted when in use to assume a vertical flag supporting and displaying position, a flag having a hem at its attachable end slidingly sleeved over said flagstaff, a first keeper hole provided in one side of an upper part of the flagstaff slightly below the level of the top of said fiagstatf, a second keeper hole provided in one side of the flagstaflt' at a prescribed measured distance below the position of said first keeper hole, a heavyduty snap fastener secured to at an upper end portion of said hem and projecting into the portion of said hem which is sleeved over said flagstaif and selectively manually engageable with said first or second keeper hole, and pull tab means positioned exteriorly of said hem and secured to an available outer end portion of said snap fastener,

said pull tab means having at least one loop-type fingergrip.

4. In combination, a flagstaff adapted when in use to assume a vertical flag supporting and displaying position, a flag having a hem at its attachable end slidingly sleeved over said fiagstaff, said flagstatf being rigid and tubular and having a first keeper hole in one side of an upper part of the fiagstalf slightly below the level of the top of said flagstaff, a second keeper in one side at a prescribed distance below the position of and aligned with said first keeper hole, a heavy-duty snapfastener secured to an upper end portion of and projecting laterally into the hollow portion of said hem and selectively manually engageable with said first and second keepers, and pull tab.

means positioned exteriorly of said hem and secured to an available outer end portion of said snap fastener, said pull tab means having at least one loop-type finger'grip.

5. A flag having a canvas hem affixed to its staff attaching end, said hem having an upper end portion provided with a single hollow rivet penetrating the hem, fashioned at its inner end into a heavy-duty male-type snap fastener, the shank portion of said rivet being providedwith and secured in place with inner and outer washers, said washers abutting interior and exterior surfaces of said hem, and a loopequipped pull tab exteriorly contacting said hem and having end portions penetrated byv said shank portion and assistively secured in place by said washers, said end portions of said tab being sand-.

wiched between said outer washer and an adjacent outer surface portion of said hem.

References Cited by the Examiner V UNITED STATES PATENTS 984,884 2/1911 Blank l16173 1,228,092 5/1917 Brewer 116 173 1,256,311 2/1918 Hartivig 24-213 1,453,772 5/ 1923 Trachtenberg 116-173 1,595,395 8/1926 Herbener 116173 2,118,800 5/1938 Smith 24213 2,184,250 12/1939 Chaffee 24213 2,23 8,238 4/ 1941 Westrope 242l3 2,332,852 10/1943 Johnson 24-213 2,775,221 12/1956 Olson 116-173 2,794,414 6/1957 Reifschneider 116-173 2,952,057 9/ 1960 Lassiter 40145 3,011,810 12/1961 Crowder 116--173 FOREIGN PATENTS 254,917 7/1926 Great Britain.

LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN COMBINATION, A FLAGSTAFF ADAPTED WHEN IN USE TO ASSUME A VERTICAL FLAG SUPPORTING AND DISPLAYING POSITION, A FLAG HAVING AN OPEN-ENDED HEM AT ONE END SLIDINGLY SLEEVED OVER AN UPPER FLAG ATTACHING PORTION OF A FLAGSTAFF, FULL-MAST KEEPER MEANS EMBODIED IN THE UPPER END OF SAID FLAG-ATTACHING PORTION OF SAID FLAGSTAFF, HALF-MAST KEEPER MEANS ALSO EMBODIED IN SAID UPPER FLAG ATTACHING PORTION BUT SPACED DOWNWARDLY A PREDETERMINED DISTANCE BELOW THE LOCALE OF SAID FULL-MAST KEEPER MEANS, AND FASTENER MEANS CARRIED BY SAID HEM AND SELECTIVELY AND SEPARABLY CONNECTABLE AT WILL, WITH EITHER KEEPER MEANS CONTINGENT ON DISPLAYING THE FLAG AT FULL-STAFF OR HALF-STAFF, AS THE CASE MAY BE, SAID FASTENER MEANS COMPRISING A SINGLE FASTENER OPERATIVELY CONNECTED WITH THE UPPER END PORTION OF SAID HEM, SAID FASTENER BEING READILY ACCESSIBLE AND MANUALLY ATTACHABLE TO AND DETACHABLE FROM THE RESPECTIVE KEEPER MEANS. 